Sorry about slipping off the radar again. Too many things
happening all at once and I couldn’t settle down to reading or writing. Nothing
tragic or terrible, just one of those weird times when your mind seems to have switched off. I am so behind on all my challenges but I think I can still catch
up. Anyways, it’s supposed to be fun right? So I’m not going to pile any
pressure on myself.
I managed to finish Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in
King Arthur’s Court although it has taken me over a month to do so. Let this
not put you off the book though. The delay was entirely due to the crazy time I've been having and nothing
to do with the book’s length or quality. In fact, I would very much like to go
back and re-read this when life is a little less hectic.
I have read and reviewed Mark Twain’s short stories here and
they are the reason I chose A Connecticut Yankee... as one of my Classic’s
Challenge reads. I expected it to be a crazy, hilarious book and it is, but it
is also so much more than that. It is
insightful, thought-provoking and sometimes quite grim too.
The title pretty much summarizes the book for you. Hank
Morgan is a resourceful and enterprising Yankee from the 19th
century. After a head injury, he wakes
up in 6th century Camelot which is not quite the romantic and ethereal
land we imagine it to be. He is almost
burned at the stake for being peculiar but Hank can think on his feet pretty
sharp. Not only does he manage to escape a brutal death, he takes over the
mantle of Head Magician from a disgruntled Merlin. Hank, or The Boss, as he is now known, sets
about improving and modernizing Camelot without rousing suspicion or alarm. But
he finds that the general populace have immense respect for hocus pocus and
very little for human rights.
